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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24035638">Amara Roswell</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ELF_Forever/pseuds/ELF_Forever'>ELF_Forever</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Amara Roswell and Sirius Black: A Love Story [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Happy Ending, OC and Sirius used to date, OC is Harry's Godmother, OC raised Harry, OC took in Harry, OFC - Freeform, Sirius Black Free from Azkaban, Slight Dumbledore Bashing, Small panic attacks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 15:22:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>16,441</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24035638</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ELF_Forever/pseuds/ELF_Forever</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Amara Roswell raised Harry after his parents were killed by Voldemort that fateful Halloween. She was living a good enough life when suddenly he showed up in her life once again. She wants to forget him. I mean he killed her friends, but he just wont leave her mind. Especially after the news of his escape from Azkaban. </p><p>This is a Fic set in the third book. It is also a very selfish OC insert.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sirius Black &amp; Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Amara Roswell and Sirius Black: A Love Story [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1733824</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. WHAT?!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hello thanks for reading! This chap is an intro to who Amara Roswell is.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Amara Roswell was an exceptional wizard and a great human being. Sure she may have been a little mischievous and a bit of an alcoholic, but she was smart and powerful. Amara's mother had left when she was a baby with no one but her abusive father. He hadn’t always been like that. It was just one day… something inside of him broke and he had started to beat her. Amara’s father died only a few years after she had graduated from Hogwarts. When he had died, she inherited a bit of money but not much. Soon after Sirius had asked her to live with him which she accepted and moved in. She was happy for some time then everything went to shit.<br/>
Amara woke up to the sound of an owl pecking at her bedroom window. She groaned as she got up and went over to the window to let the owl in. It delivered the latest addition of the Daily Prophet and flew off. As soon as she saw the cover story Amara dropped the newspaper and had to sit down to calm herself down. Memories of the past flooded back to her like a dam had broken inside her. She started to hyperventilate. She was trying to even her breathing again, but she just couldn’t seem to shake the memory of him from her mind. A silent tear rolled down her eye and after a while she had enough breath to compose herself again and actually read the newspaper. It stated that Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban and was now on the loose.<br/>
Amara immediately felt the need to get Harry out of England as soon as possible but knew that would be a bit too much. As she wanted him to get his 3rd year at Hogwarts done. She instead wrote a letter to Molly about the current situation and how they should handle it. Molly told her to send Harry to Hogwarts because Amara could look after him there.<br/>
About a week before school had started Amara informed Harry of the danger that was Sirius Black. He had asked why but she hadn’t told him the whole truth. She didn’t want the kid to feel the immense pain after all that he had been through already. Now Harry was with the Weasley’s and Amara was at Hogwarts. Being a professor there, she needed to arrive a little early this year. Especially because she needed to talk to Dumbledore about Harry’s safety and the prospect of Sirius’s attack.<br/>
12 years ago that night, Dumbledore had told her that Sirius betrayed their friends and even with Amara’s disbelieving cries, he had told her to let it go, to move on. Even though her heart told her that there was no way in hell Sirius could do such a thing, she had believed the words that were spoken to her. However she had to suppress her anger and bitterness down because she was handed little Harry Potter to raise all on her own. Her boyfriend was going to Azkaban and her best friend had also disappeared in shock. She had no one. She raised Harry on her own as best as she could with some help from different people now and then. She hadn’t had any time to think about anything else except keeping Harry safe. After Harry had gone off to his first year and befriended the Weasley’s she had also gotten close to them. Molly had helped a lot with parenting and Amara had tried to help out a little financially. However, with her not being the richest person either, she couldn’t do much. She didn’t like spending any of the money from the Potter vault, as she wanted Harry to have all of it when he grew up and had the capability to use it wisely. So she only took money out of the Potter vault to use on Harry’s things. She took money out of her own vault when she needed it. She actually had access to the Black vault as Sirius had given it all to her, as they were living together and basically married, but she didn’t even like to think about the Black vault.<br/>
It was almost the start of the new school year and the new DADA teacher hadn’t shown up yet. She hoped it wasn’t going to be a servant of the Dark Lord, or a total imbecile this year. As she wasn’t feeling like talking to anyone, Amara hadn’t been interacting with any of the other professors, so she didn’t really know any current news. She stayed up in her classroom/room and drank her feelings away. Her heart still aching from the fact that her crazy ex was free, and Harry was in danger.<br/>
Now it was finally September 1st and Amara was already at the Great Hall. She was barely sober but the thought of seeing Harry again after 2 weeks was helping her to lightly smile through the painful headache. As the students came in slowly, she spotted the older Weasley siblings and many other students that were in her class the previous years. Then she spotted the golden trio and smiled and waved at them as they waved lightly to her. She was so distracted by the children she had not seen a figure sitting down next to her. However she felt the presence, and turned to say hello. When she turned her head, her eyes widened and creased slightly in the middle, looking like she was confused.<br/>
“Hello Amara.” Remus Lupin said softly with a sort of guilty look on his face. Her mouth was agape and she was frozen in place. It had been so long. They exchanged letters but not very often. It was the first time Amara was seeing her best friend since 12 years ago. Seeing him made so many memories come back to her again. Her eyes teared up a little, but she held it back. Her body was back in motion now but the only thing she could do was bring her head down so no one could see her red and tearful eyes. No tears had slipped out yet but it was close. She now put her hand on her face and the tears that were threatening to fall fell onto her robes. She was now fully crying so she stood up and walked “calmly” to a place where not many students could see her. It was still a while until the first years got there so she had time. She was now actually sobbing silently into her hands.<br/>
“Amara…. Amara? Hey.. I.. I’m sorry.” Lupin sighed while hugging her tightly. The built up stress and anger and frustration at everything that happened, just came flowing out in tears and she held onto Lupin like her life depended on it. When she had stopped crying she smiled at him. Then punched him in the arm.<br/>
“Remus! You could have visited you know. I missed you. I reckon you’re the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?” Remus nodded. “Well good luck….” She sniffed as she smiled and hugged him one more time before they had to go back.<br/>
The sorting commenced without a hitch and Dumbledore welcomed the new and old students. Then the feast began. Remus and Amara spent the night talking about the things that had happened in the last 12 years. They talked about Harry, and how he was so much like his parents. They also spent the evening chatting with the other professors and having a pleasant time. It was like they were back to their days at Hogwarts, Lupin had aged significantly in the last 12 years but it was still the same old Moony. For a split second she could picture the five of them together again. Laughing and joking around. However reality was brought back to her when she realized it could never be possible. James and Peter were dead, and Sirius… Sirius was the one who killed them. The night ended with a drink.<br/>
She woke up with a terrible hangover, however she had a hangover curing potion. So with a gulp of that, she went to the great hall for breakfast.<br/>
After breakfast she went to talk to the golden trio before classes started.<br/>
“Hey Harry. What’s your first class this morning?”<br/>
“Oh we all have divination.” Harry replied. The trio all nodded along.<br/>
“Well have fun. It’s an… interesting class. Professor Trilawney can be a little… intense.” Amara warned. Then after general greetings with Ron and Hermione, she was off for her own classes.<br/>
Amara went back to her classroom to get ready for the 4th year students to come in. She didn’t actually love the subject she taught, but it was a job and it was a job where she could keep an eye out for Harry. She never did like arithmancy very much, especially when she had chosen it for her elective course back when she was still a student. However, she had achieved an OWL in this subject because it wasn’t too hard for her to understand. After the war Dumbledore  had asked her to be the arithmancy professor, and she had agreed.<br/>
After her first lesson was over, her muscles remembered what words to speak without her having to think too much. The days passed without much hiccup. It was now October. The third year students had been going into Hogwarts. Harry had asked Amara to sign the permission slip. She wanted him to go, but it was risky. She didn’t think Sirius would attack him at Hogsmeade, but he did kill those muggles like nothing, so who's to say he wouldn’t do something crazy like that again? Especially after 12 years in Azkaban. So Amara said no. She hated to do it, seeing the joy fade out of the boy’s eyes, but it was just too risky. She didn’t want to lose Harry too. So now she was in her office with a drink in her hand and contemplating whether she was too paranoid or if it was okay if Harry went to Hogsmede.<br/>
That day, at dinner, Amara was talking to Lupin about her doubts.<br/>
“I don’t know Remus. I mean I want him to enjoy things like this, but I don’t want him to end up…” She couldn’t finish that sentence.<br/>
“It’s fine for you to keep him here. I don’t want him gone either. He’ll understand someday. I tried my best to comfort the kid today. We had some tea in my office.” He spoke gently.<br/>
“Thank you Remus.” She said smiling at him.<br/>
After dinner there was a commotion over at Gryffindor tower.<br/>
“Oh yes, Professorhead, he got very angry when she wouldn't let him, you see. Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black." Peaves was saying. As soon as she heard that name, Amara lost all strength in her legs and just collapsed. When she did, McGonagall was beside her patting her on the back and helping her back on her feet. Shortly after that they found the Fat Lady in another portrait. After this the students were all moved to the Great Hall and the teachers were instructed to go and search for Sirius Black. Amara was instructed to stay at the Great Hall.<br/>
The students were all asleep and Professor Dumbledore came in saying that he wasn’t found. Then Snape came in saying the same thing.<br/>
“Have you any theory as to how he got in, Professor?” asked Snape. I listened in on the conversation.<br/>
“Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next.”<br/>
“You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before — ah — the start of term?” said Snape, trying to block Percy and Amara out of the conversation.<br/>
“I do, Severus,” said Dumbledore, and there was something like warning in his voice.<br/>
“It seems — almost impossible — that Black could have entered the school without inside help. I did express my concerns when you appointed —” He was saying as he stared intently at me.<br/>
“Are you accusing me Severus?” Amara said, anger filling her voice.<br/>
“Well—”<br/>
“I do not believe a single person inside this castle would have helped Black enter it,” said Dumbledore, and his tone made it so clear that the subject was closed that Snape didn’t finish his sentence.<br/>
Amara was now glaring at Snape, as if she were trying to drill a hole into him. Snape glared back and they were soon having a staring contest. It was insulting to her that Snape would ever suspect her or Lupin.<br/>
The next few days were torture. Everyone was talking about Sirius Black and Amara had to walk about the castle like nothing was wrong when in fact, she was screaming inside. Harry was put under surveillance.<br/>
Soon after, the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff was here. Amara was really hoping nothing bad would happen this time, however her hopes were proven to be crushed when Harry started to fall from his broom. Dumbledore saved Harry from the fall right before he could crash into the ground.<br/>
Days turned into months and soon it was almost Christmas. Amara was very guilty for not letting Harry go to Hogsmeade once again.<br/>
“Mum why can’t I go? I promise I’ll be careful. Please!??” Harry was pleading. Amara really wanted to say yes but this time it was a decision that all the teachers had agreed was the best choice.<br/>
“I’m so sorry Harry, but it’s just… too dangerous.” Amara simply said.<br/>
“Fine.” Harry humphed and turned around to leave.<br/>
After that, Amara was stress cleaning her room when she found Harry’s Christmas present. She decided to give it to him early.<br/>
“Harry…” She whispered when she found him in the Gryffindor common room. “I’m really sorry I can't let you go to Hogsmeade. But… I wanted to give you this.” She said handing him a box wrapped with Red and Gold wrapping paper. Harry softly took it from her and ripped the wrapping paper. “It was supposed to be your Christmas present, but I thought I could give it to you a little earlier.<br/>
“What is it?” Harry asked, lifting up the cloak from the box it was in.<br/>
“It’s an invisibility cloak. It was your dad’s. I thought you were old enough to have it. James would have wanted you to have it.” She replied.<br/>
“Oh.” Harry said after a while. He had some tears in his eyes. Seeing that, Amara’s eyes also watered. “Thanks mum.” Harry hugged her tightly.<br/>
“You’re welcome.” Amara choked. She just held him while patting his back. They just stayed like that for a little while. After that she went back to her room.<br/>
The Minister of Magic had called her to the Leaky Cauldron to discuss something about Sirius Black. She had accepted, clearly not thinking straight.<br/>
At the Leaky Cauldron they went into a separate room with Madam Rosmerta, the Minister, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Hagrid.<br/>
“So, what brings you to this neck of the woods, Minister?” Madam Rosmerta asked.<br/>
“What else, m’dear, but Sirius Black? I daresay you heard what happened up at the school at Halloween?” The conversation continued like that for a bit then, Fudge said, “We all know what Black’s capable of…”<br/>
“Do you know, I still have trouble believing it,” said Madam Rosmerta thoughtfully. “Of all the people to go over to the Dark Side, Sirius Black was the last I’d have thought… I mean, I remember him when he was a boy at Hogwarts. If you’d told me then what he was going to become, I’d have said you’d had too much mead. I mean.. Amara! You must have had quite the shock!”<br/>
“Yes… shocked would be an understatement.” Amara said, voice slightly quivering.<br/>
“You don’t know the half of it, Rosmerta,” said Fudge gruffly. “The worst he did isn’t widely known.”<br/>
“The worst?” said Madam Rosmerta, curious. “Worse than murdering all those poor people, you mean?”<br/>
Oh no.. No... Amara thought.<br/>
“I certainly do,” said Fudge.<br/>
“I can’t believe that. What could possibly be worse?”<br/>
No.. Don’t say it. Please.<br/>
“You say you remember him at Hogwarts, Rosmerta,” murmured Professor McGonagall. “Do you remember who his best friend was?”<br/>
“Naturally,” said Madam Rosmerta, with a small laugh. “Never saw one without the other, did you? The number of times I had them in here — ooh, they used to make me laugh. Quite the double act, Sirius Black and James Potter.”<br/>
Oh no here it comes. Please stop.<br/>
“Precisely,” said Professor McGonagall. “Black and Potter. Ringleaders of their little gang. Both very bright, of course — exceptionally bright, in fact — but I don’t think we’ve ever had such a pair of troublemakers —”<br/>
“I dunno,” chuckled Hagrid. “Fred and George Weasley could give ‘em a run fer their money.”<br/>
“You’d have thought Black and Potter were brothers!” chimed in Professor Flitwick.<br/>
“Inseparable!”<br/>
“Of course they were,” said Fudge. “Potter trusted Black beyond all his other friends. Nothing changed when they left school. Black was best man when James married Lily. Then they named him godfather to Harry with Amara as Godmother. Harry has no idea, of course. You can imagine how the idea would torment him.”<br/>
“Because Black turned out to be in league with You-Know-Who?” whispered Madam Rosmerta.<br/>
“Worse even than that, m’dear…” Fudge dropped his voice and proceeded in a sort of low rumble. “Not many people are aware that the Potters knew You-Know-Who was after them.”<br/>
Here it comes. Amara was close to having another one of her fits now. She needed to breathe. She just couldn’t remember how to do it.<br/>
“Dumbledore, who was of course working tirelessly against You-Know-Who, had a number of useful spies. One of them tipped him off, and he alerted James and Lily at once. He advised them to go into hiding. Well, of course, You-Know-Who wasn’t an easy person to hide from. Dumbledore told them that their best chance was the Fidelius Charm.”<br/>
“How does that work?” said Madam Rosmerta, breathless with interest. Professor Flitwick cleared his throat.<br/>
“An immensely complex spell,” he said squeakily, “involving the magical concealment of a secret inside a single, living soul. The information is hidden inside the chosen person, or SecretKeeper, and is henceforth impossible to find — unless, of course, the Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it. As long as the Secret-Keeper refused to speak, You-Know-Who could search the village where Lily and James were staying for years and never find them, not even if he had his nose pressed against their sitting room window!”<br/>
“So Black was the Potters’ Secret-Keeper?” whispered Madam Rosmerta.<br/>
“Naturally,” said Professor McGonagall. “James Potter told Dumbledore that Black would die rather than tell where they were, that Black was planning to go into hiding himself… and yet, Dumbledore remained worried. I remember him offering to be the Potters’ Secret-Keeper himself.”<br/>
“He suspected Black?” gasped Madam Rosmerta.<br/>
Amara was aware Dumbledore was suspicious of both herself and her then boyfriend. However, she, being madly in love with the man, never suspected a thing.<br/>
“He was sure that somebody close to the Potters had been keeping You-Know-Who informed of their movements,” said Professor McGonagall darkly. “Indeed, he had suspected for some time that someone on our side had turned traitor and was passing a lot of information to YouKnowWho.”<br/>
“But James Potter insisted on using Black?”<br/>
“He did,” said Fudge heavily. “And then, barely a week after the Fidelius Charm had been performed —”<br/>
“Black betrayed them?” breathed Madam Rosmerta.<br/>
“He did indeed. Black was tired of his double-agent role, he was ready to declare his support openly for You-Know-Who, and he seems to have planned this for the moment of the Potters’ death. But, as we all know, You-Know-Who met his downfall in little Harry Potter. Powers gone, horribly weakened, he fled. And this left Black in a very nasty position indeed. His master had fallen at the very moment when he, Black, had shown his true colors as a traitor. He had no choice but to run for it — Are you sure you didn’t suspect anything Amara? I mean you were living with him before—” he stopped seeing the tears in Amara’s grief stricken eyes.<br/>
“No… I didn’t… I wish I would have so I could have killed him myself.” she said silent tears falling from her eyes.<br/>
“Filthy, stinkin’ turncoat!” Hagrid yelled.<br/>
“Shh!” said Professor McGonagall.<br/>
“I met him!” growled Hagrid. “I musta bin the last ter see him before he killed all them people! It was me what rescued Harry from Lily an’ James’s house after they was killed! Jus’ got him outta the ruins, poor little thing, with a great slash across his forehead, an’ his parents dead… an’ Sirius Black turns up, on that flyin’ motorbike he used ter ride. Never occurred ter me what he was doin’ there. I didn’ know he’d bin Lily an’ James’s Secret-Keeper. Thought he’d jus’ heard the news o’ You-KnowWho’s attack an’ come ter see what he could do. White an’ shakin’, he was. An’ yeh know what I did? I COMFORTED THE MURDERIN’ TRAITOR!” Hagrid roared.<br/>
There it is. The truth. The full truth she had been trying to keep her mind from for 12 years. She was seriously contemplating why the hell she was here. She was now very close to fainting and she was now discreetly clutching at her chest.<br/>
“Hagrid, please!” said Professor McGonagall. “Keep your voice down!”<br/>
“How was I ter know he wasn’ upset abou’ Lily an’ James? It was You-Know-Who he cared abou’! An’ then he says, ‘Give Harry ter me, Hagrid, I’m his godfather, I’ll look after him —’ Ha! But I’d had me orders from Dumbledore, an’ I told Black no, Dumbledore said Harry was ter go ter his Godmother. Black told me ter take his motorbike ter get Harry there. ‘I won’t need it anymore,’ he says. “I shoulda known there was somethin’ fishy goin’ on then. He loved that motorbike, what was he givin’ it ter me for? Why wouldn’ he need it anymore? Fact was, it was too easy ter trace. Dumbledore knew he’d bin the Potters’ Secret-Keeper. Black knew he was goin’ ter have ter run fer it that night, knew it was a matter o’ hours before the Ministry was after him. But what if I’d given Harry to him, eh? I bet he’d’ve pitched him off the bike halfway out ter sea. His bes’ friends’ son! But when a wizard goes over ter the Dark Side, there’s nothin’ and no one that matters to em anymore…”<br/>
Now that had done it. Tears streamed down her face. After so long, hearing the full story again… just broke her all over again. Her ears started to ring and the pain in her chest became stronger. Someone had come over to comfort her, but she just started to sob even more. After some time she had calmed down enough to hear the rest of the conversation. She wished she hadn’t though.<br/>
“Pettigrew died a hero’s death. Eyewitnesses —Muggles, of course, we wiped their memories later — told us how Pettigrew cornered Black. They say he was sobbing, ‘Lily and James, Sirius! How could you?’ And then he went for his wand. Well, of course, Black was quicker. Blew Pettigrew to smithereens…”<br/>
Amara hadn’t heard that before and now even more grief and anger swelled up inside her.<br/>
Professor McGonagall now done with comforting her, blew her nose and said thickly, “Stupid boy… foolish boy… he was always hopeless at dueling… should have left it to the Ministry…”<br/>
“I tell yeh, if I’d got ter Black before little Pettigrew did, I wouldn’t’ve messed around with wands — I’d ‘ve ripped him limb — from — limb,” Hagrid growled.<br/>
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Hagrid,” said Fudge sharply. “Nobody but trained Hit Wizards from the Magical Law Enforcement Squad would have stood a chance against Black once he was cornered. I was Junior Minister in the Department of Magical Catastrophes at the time, and I was one of the first on the scene after Black murdered all those people. I — I will never forget it. I still dream about it sometimes. A crater in the middle of the street, so deep it had cracked the sewer below. Bodies everywhere. Muggles screaming. And Black standing there laughing, with what was left of Pettigrew in front of him… a heap of bloodstained robes and a few — a few fragments —”<br/>
“Stop please. I… Can’t sit here and listen to this again. I mean I knew what he had done but… I didn’t think.. Please… I’m going to go. I’m sorry that I didn’t realize sooner that he.. He had turned to the side of Voldemort.” With that she left the pub and fled back to Hogwarts. She spent that night drinking away her memories. Devastated and drunk, she walked to Remus’s office.<br/>
“Remus! I need to talk to you. I need someone, anyone to be a friend.” Amara drunkenly fell into the arms of the werewolf when he opened his door.<br/>
“Woah. Amara! Darling.. What’s wrong?” Remus asked.<br/>
“I just had to relive the most horrible night of my life. So, I drank.” Remus was now guiding me to his desk chair.<br/>
“You got to stop drinking like this. You’ll kill yourself.”<br/>
“The only reason I haven’t yet is because of Harry. Drinking is the only way the pain will go away.” Remus just sighed at that. He then went over to his side of the desk and brought out a sobering potion and handed it to her.<br/>
“Just drink this and sleep. Or do you want to talk about it.” Amara grabbed the tiny vile from his hand and drank it.<br/>
“No.. I don’t really want to talk about it….. It’s just he was laughing. Remus. He was fucking laughing!! He didn’t even feel any remorse. He.. How could he.. I still don’t know how…. How he could've been that cruel and I didn’t know. Even when I lived in the same house as him.” She started to sob again. At that, Remus came over to her and hugged her tightly. She just sobbed into him for what seemed like hours. When she had finally calmed down, she could see that Remus’s eyes were also red from tears, and she just hugged him again. After that they talked a bit more about other lighter subjects and drank some tea to help her sober up. Then Amara left to her own room and turned in for the night.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Confrentation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The meeting with Sirius. Also most of this chapter is literally taken straight from the book. With very minor changes.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Many days passed and it was Christmas and Amara had gotten Harry another present. She had gotten him a small picture with herself and Harry as a little baby. He appreciated it. During dinner, Hermione reported a Firebolt that was delivered to Harry anonymously and both Professor Mcgonagall and Amara thought it was best for it to be tested in case of any tampering. Because of this, Amara decides to get him another Nimbus 2000 temporarily. She didn’t want to get a firebolt then have it be completely fine. If it turns out to be tampered with, she planned on getting him a firebolt. Not long after that Amara found herself asking Remus Lupin to teach the Patronus charm to Harry. She knew it was far beyond a fourth year’s ability, but she also knew that she and 3 of her fellow students managed to do many things that were beyond their grade level. She also knew that one of those people was Harry's father and his mother was the brightest witch of her age, so she knew Harry could do it. <br/>Lupin had started his lessons with Harry and had reported good things. He was progressing each day and that made Amara very very proud. <br/>March was here and the match between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor was also here. During the match, Harry cast a full fledged patronus at the stands and she was so proud of him for being able to do that. His patronus was a Stag.. like his father… her heart was feeling weird. She felt so happy and proud but at the same time remembering James made her heart ache. She had complimented Harry on his patronus and his win over Ravenclaw. <br/>Soon after that, the match between Slytherin and Gryffindor came and went. At last, Gryffindor had won the cup! <br/>After the students had taken their finals, Lupin and Amara were having a cup of tea in her office. <br/>“Oh I almost forgot to tell you. Amara, Harry had the Marauder's Map. I have it now, but I thought you should know that he had it. Also we should probably look into it. Those three are probably going to sneak off to Hagrid’s before Buckbeak’s execution” Lupin tells her. <br/>“What? I haven’t even seen that thing since Filch took it from us in 7th year.” Amara laughed. It was truly a map filled with happy and lasting memories. “Do you have it with you right now?” She asked with mischief flashing in her eyes. God. she hadn’t had that feeling of mischief since so long, she had nearly forgotten what it felt like. “Also, poor Buckbeak. I think it would be best to keep an eye on them too. I gave him the cloak so he’s probably going to put it to use.” <br/>“It’s in my office. ” He says, the eyes Amara recognized from their Hogwarts days coming back. <br/>“Then let’s go!” She said. Her eyes also lit up like a little kid. She hadn’t seen the map since 7th year and it held so many memories that now she could barely contain her excitement. That’s how they went to his office to look at a piece of their past. <br/>“Oh my gosh!! It’s really our map! Haha” She was handed the piece of parchment from Lupin. “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.” She said tapping her wand on the parchment. As soon as she uttered the words, the parchment revealed the words, ‘Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs, and Longmane Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present THE MARAUDER'S MAP’ This gave Amara a very mischievous look in her eyes. They stared at the map, watching Ron, Harry, and Hermione sneaking off to Hagrid’s. After that she and Remus kept talking and occasionally looking at the map to see if Harry was alright. It was like she was a student again and was about to suggest to Remus to have a little fun as she looked at the map again to see where Snape was. However, she stopped when she saw a name she was definitely not supposed to be seeing on the map. ‘Peter Petigrew’ was being shown on the map. <br/>“Remus! Look!” She showed him the map and pointed out the name. She also saw the name ‘Sirius Black’ along with ‘Ron Weasley’ She immediately understood what had happened. She recalled the constant arguing of Hermione and Ron about his rat and her cat. She didn’t know the details of course, but she could tell that Peter was the rat and somehow had framed Sirius. When she looked over at Remus, she could tell that he had come to the same conclusion. <br/>“Let’s go” she simply said before running to the Whomping Willow.<br/>When Lupin and Amara reached the Shrieking Shack, they heard Hermione’s shrill voice screaming “WE’RE UP HERE! WE’RE UP HERE — SIRIUS BLACK — QUICK!” At that, Lupin and Amara both drew their wands and ran up the stairs. They burst through the door in a shower of red sparks and Harry wheeled around to face them. Their wands were raised ready. Their eyes flickered over Ron, lying on the floor, over Hermione, cowering next to the door, to Harry, standing there with his wand covering Black, and then to Black himself, crumpled and bleeding at Harry’s feet. At this sight Amara just broke down inside. The sight of Sirius’ once mischievous eyes now replaced with pain. However she looked away to Harry’s eyes and kept herself together. <br/>“Expelliarmus!” Remus shouted. The wand in Harry’s hand came flying into his hand along with the two wands Hermione was holding. A look of betrayal glazed over Harry’s eyes. Amara then took a deep breath. <br/>“Where is he, Sirius?” Amara spoke. Voice tight with pent up emotion and newly found anger. <br/>Sirius pointed at the rat sitting on Ron’s lap, which looked very nervous for a rat. “But then…” Lupin muttered, “… why hasn’t he shown himself before now? Unless” — Lupin and Amara’s eyes both suddenly widened, looking at each other, “— unless he was the one… unless you switched… without telling us?”  Remus finished his thought. Amara understood and looked back at Sirius with wide eyes. <br/>“You didn’t even tell me?” Amara spoke <br/>“I couldn't,” Sirius said, with his gaze fixed on both Lupin and Amara. <br/>“Mum,” Harry interrupted loudly, “what’s going on —?” <br/> But he never finished the question, because Lupin was lowering his wand, gazing fixed at Black. Moony walked to Sirius’ side, seized his hand, pulled him to his feet so that Crookshanks fell to the floor, and embraced him like a brother. After Lupin had had his reunion, it was Amara’s turn. Her wand was already lowered, but she just dropped it and almost ran to Sirius. The man who had caused her so much pain, it seemed like nothing now. Sirius met her halfway and opened his arms for her. Amara was sobbing. When they embraced, she felt the world melt around her. She didn’t hear Hermione’s scream of disbelief. She only felt Sirius’ body embracing her once again. It felt so much more bonier than she last remembered, which made her heart hurt, but she didn’t care. He was there with her now. Most importantly, he wasn’t the one responsible for killing their best friends. She just sobbed into Sirius’s chest clutching onto him for dear life. <br/>“I.. Sirius! I’m sorry.. I can’t believe I thought you would ever… I’m so sorry.” Amara cried. <br/>“Shhh. it’s okay love. I’m here now.” He said, patting her head. <br/>Amara let go of Black and turned to Hermione. She had raised herself off the floor and was pointing at Remus, wild-eyed. “You — you —”<br/> “Hermione —” Remus stated <br/> “– you and him!”<br/> “Hermione, calm down —” <br/> “I didn’t tell anyone!” Hermione shrieked. “I’ve been covering up for you — And! Amara! You— You’re Harry’s godmother! How!?” <br/> “Hermione, listen to me, please” Lupin shouted. “We can explain —” <br/> “I trusted you,” Harry shouted at Lupin, his voice wavering, out of control, “and all the time you’ve been his friend! And…. Mum? How… could you have lied to me? Right to my face?”<br/> “You’re wrong,” said Lupin. “I haven’t been Sirius’s friend, but I am now — Let us explain…”<br/>“Harry… Let us explain—” Amara tried to say. <br/> “NO!” Hermione screamed. “Harry, don’t trust them, they’ve been helping Black get into the castle, Lupin probably wants you dead too — he’s a werewolf!”<br/> There was a ringing silence. The trio’s eyes were now on Lupin, who looked remarkably calm, though rather pale. Amara was holding her head in her hands silently nursing a headache starting to form. <br/> “Not at all up to your usual standard, Hermione,” he said. “Only one out of three, I’m afraid. I have not been helping Sirius get into the castle and I certainly don’t want Harry dead.” A shiver passed over his face. “But I won’t deny that I am a werewolf.”  Ron made a valiant effort to get up again but fell back with a whimper of pain. Lupin made toward him, looking concerned, but Ron gasped, “Get away from me, werewolf!”  At that, Amara looked up sharply. A glare forming towards Ron. She didn’t like when people would discriminate against her friend because he was a werewolf. It wasn’t like he wanted to be one. Lupin stopped dead. Then, with an obvious effort, he turned to Hermione and said, “How long have you known?” <br/>“Ages,” Hermione whispered. “Since I did Professor Snape’s essay…”<br/> “He’ll be delighted,” said Lupin coolly. “He assigned that essay hoping someone would realize what my symptoms mean… Did you check the lunar chart and realize that I was always ill at the full moon? Or did you realize that the Boggart changed into the moon when it saw me?”<br/>“Both,” Hermione said quietly.<br/>Lupin forced a laugh.<br/>“You’re the cleverest witch of your age I’ve ever met, Hermione.” Lupin said. Amara also had to give it to her. She really was the brightest witch of her age. <br/>“I’m not,” Hermione whispered. “If I’d been a bit cleverer, I’d have told everyone what you are!”<br/>“But they already know,” said Lupin. “At least, the staff do.” At this the Golden Trio’s gaze fell on Amara. <br/>“Dumbledore hired you when he knew you were a werewolf,” Ron gasped. “Is he mad?” The glare toward him became a little more intense. <br/> “Some of the staff thought so,” said Lupin. “He had to work very hard to convince certain teachers that I’m trustworthy —”<br/> “AND HE WAS WRONG!” Harry yelled. “YOU’VE BOTH BEEN HELPING HIM ALL THE TIME!” <br/>“We have not been helping Sirius,” said Amara. “If you’ll give us a chance, We’ll explain. Look —”<br/>Remus separated Harry’s, Ron’s and Hermione’s wands and threw each back to its owner; Harry caught his, stunned.<br/> “There,” said Remus, sticking his own wand back into his belt “You’re armed, we’re not. Now will you listen?” Amara’s wand was still on the floor. Which she ignored and went to sit at the four-poster bed with Sirius. <br/> “If you haven’t been helping him,” Harry said, with a furious glance at Sirius, “how did you know he was here?”<br/> “The map,” said Remus. “The Marauder’s Map. Amara and I was in my office examining it —”<br/> “You know how to work it?” Harry said suspiciously. <br/>“Of course we know how to work it,” said Remus, waving his hand impatiently. “We helped write it. I’m Moony — that was my friends’ nickname for me at school.”<br/>“And I’m Longmane.” Amara added. <br/> “You wrote —?”<br/> “The important thing is, I was watching it carefully this evening, because I had an idea that you, Ron, and Hermione might try and sneak out of the castle to visit Hagrid before his Hippogriff was executed. And I was right, wasn’t I?” He had started to pace up and down, looking at the trio. Little patches of dust rose at his feet.<br/>“You might have been wearing your father’s old cloak, Harry—”<br/>“How d’you know about the cloak?”<br/>“The number of times I saw James disappearing under it… and the fact that Amara told me she gave it to you” said Lupin, waving an impatient hand again. “The point is, even if you’re wearing an Invisibility Cloak, you still show up on the Marauder’s Map. I watched you cross the grounds and enter Hagrid’s hut. Twenty minutes later, you left Hagrid, and set off back toward the castle. But you were now accompanied by somebody else.” Remus started to explain Amara and his train of thought, with some argument from the trio. <br/>Then Lupin finally said, “Do you think I could have a look at the rat?”<br/> “What?” said Ron. “What’s Scabbers got to do with it?” <br/> “Everything,” said Moony. “Could I see him, please?” Amara glared intently at Peter’s animagus form as Ron put a hand inside his robes. Scabbers emerged, thrashing desperately; Ron had to seize his long bald tail to stop him escaping. Crookshanks stood up on Sirius’ leg and made a soft hissing noise. Remus moved closer to Ron. He seemed to be holding his breath as he gazed intently at Scabbers. Amara stood up from where she was sitting and moved closer to the trio and to the rat. <br/>“What?” Ron said again, holding Scabbers close to him, looking scared. “What’s my rat got to do with anything?”<br/>“That’s not a rat,” croaked Sirius suddenly. Amara looked back at him. <br/>“What d’you mean — of course he’s a rat —”<br/>“No, he’s not,” said Amara quietly. “He’s a wizard.” <br/>“An Animagus,” said Sirius, “by the name of Peter Pettigrew.”  <br/>“You’re both mental.”<br/>“Ridiculous!” said Hermione faintly.<br/>“Peter Pettigrew’s dead!” said Harry. “He killed him twelve years ago!” He pointed at Sirius, whose face twitched convulsively. Amara’s heart was having a hard time seeing the man she once loved like this. She was equally heartbroken to see how betrayed and horrified Harry seemed at all this. <br/>“I meant to,” he growled, his yellow teeth bared. Amara looked at him warning him not to do anything. However he didn’t see her in his state of anger. “but little Peter got the better of me… not this time, though!”<br/> And Crookshanks was thrown to the floor as Black lunged at Peter; Ron yelled with pain as Black’s weight fell on his broken leg.<br/> “Sirius, NO!” Remus and Amara yelled. Remus launched himself forwards and dragged Black away from Ron again. Amara grabbed onto his arm and looked into his eyes. This seemed to calm him down a little. “WAIT! You can’t do it just like that — they need to understand — we’ve got to explain—”<br/> “We can explain afterwards!” snarled Sirius, trying to get to Peter, who was squealing like a piglet, scratching Ron’s face and neck as he tried to escape. <br/>“They’ve got a right to know everything.” Amara calmly said, “Ron’s kept him as a pet. There are parts of it even I don’t understand, and Harry — you owe Harry the truth, Sirius.”<br/> Sirius’ eyes cleared a little. Though his eyes were still fixed on the rat, who was clamped tightly under Ron’s bitten, scratched, and bleeding hands.<br/> “All right, then,” Black said, without taking his eyes off the rat. “Tell them whatever you like. But make it quick. I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for…”<br/> “You’re nutters, both of you,” said Ron shakily, looking round at Harry and Hermione for support. “I’ve had enough of this. I’m off.” He tried to heave himself up on his good leg, but Remus raised his wand again, pointing it at Peter.<br/> “You’re going to hear me out, Ron,” he said quietly. “Just keep a tight hold on Peter while you listen.”<br/> “HE’S NOT PETER, HE’S SCABBERS!” Ron yelled, trying to force the rat back into his front pocket, but Scabbers was fighting too hard; Ron swayed and overbalanced, and Harry caught him and pushed him back down to the bed. Then, ignoring Sirius, Harry turned to Remus and Amara. <br/>“There were witnesses who saw Pettigrew die,” Harry said. “A whole street full of them…”<br/>“They didn’t see what they thought they saw!” said Sirius, still watching Peter struggling in Ron’s hands.<br/>“Everyone thought Sirius killed Peter,” said Remus, nodding. “I believed it myself— until I saw the map tonight. Because the Marauder’s map never lies… Peter’s alive. Ron’s holding him, Harry.”<br/>“Harry, you have to believe us. I wouldn’t betray you like that. I thought that Sirius had killed Peter too… but like Remus said, the map never lies. We know. We wrote it.” Amara said looking intently into Harry’s eyes, trying to reach him with the truth. <br/> Then Hermione spoke, in a trembling, would-be calm sort of voice, as though trying to will her professors to talk sensibly. “But Professors… Scabbers can’t be Pettigrew… it just can’t be true, you know it can’t…” <br/>“Why can’t it be true?” Lupin said calmly. <br/>“Because… because people would know if Peter Pettigrew had been an Animagus. We did Animagi in class with Professor McGonagall. And I looked them up when I did my homework — the Ministry of Magic keeps tabs on witches and wizards who can become animals; there’s a register showing what animal they become, and their markings and things… and I went and looked Professor McGonagall up on the register, and there have been only seven Animagi this century, and Pettigrew’s name wasn’t on the list.”<br/>Lupin and Amrara both started to laugh. A sort of deranged but light hearted laugh. I mean in this type of situation, what could you do but laugh? <br/>“Right again, Hermione!” Remus said. “But the Ministry never knew that here used to be four unregistered Animagi running around Hogwarts.” At this Amara smirked. <br/>“If you’re going to tell them the story, get a move on, Remus,” saidSirius, who was still watching Peter’s every desperate move. “I’ve waited twelve years, I’m not going to wait much longer.” At this Amara went over to him again and put her hand on his shoulder. <br/>“Calm down Sirius. We’ll get him soon enough.” Amara calmly said. <br/>“All right… but you’ll need to help us explain Sirius,” said Remus, “I only know how it began…” he broke off. There had been a loud creak behind him. The bedroom door had opened of its own accord. All six of them stared at it. Then Lupin strode toward it and looked out into the landing.<br/> “No one there…”<br/>Lupin had started to tell the story of how he had become a werewolf and how he had come to attend Hogwarts. <br/>“But apart from my transformations, I was happier than I had ever been in my life. For the first time ever, I had friends. Four great friends. Sirius Black… Amara Roswell… Peter Pettigrew… and, of course, your father, Harry — James Potter.” <br/>“Now, my friends could hardly fail to notice that I disappeared once a month. I made up all sorts of stories. I told them my mother was ill, and that I had to go home to see her… I was terrified they would desert me the moment they found out what I was. But of course, they, like you, Hermione, worked out the truth…” Amara smiled fondly at the memory of them confronting Remus about his state. When she had found out she wasn’t at all mad. She wanted to protect him at all costs. <br/> “And they didn’t desert me at all. Instead, they did something for me that would make my transformations not only bearable, but the best times of my life. They became Animagi.” Amara remembered again, the night they had succeeded in becoming Animagi. She was so nervous, but after she saw her friends successfully transform, she had done it and she had transformed. It was so exhilarating. She smiled fondly at the memory. <br/> “My dad too?” said Harry, astounded.<br/> “Yes, indeed,” said Lupin. “It took them the best part of three years to work out how to do it. Your father, Amara and Sirius here were the cleverest students in the school, and lucky they were, because the Animagus transformation can go horribly wrong — one reason the Ministry keeps a close watch on those attempting to do it. Peter needed all the help he could get from James, Sirius, and Amara. Finally, in our fifth year, they managed it. They could each turn into a different animal at will.”<br/> “But how did that help you?” said Hermione, sounding puzzled.<br/> “They couldn’t keep me company as humans, so they kept me company as animals,” said Lupin. “A werewolf is only a danger to people. They sneaked out of the castle every month under James’s Invisibility Cloak. They transformed… Peter, as the smallest, could slip beneath the Willow’s attacking branches and touch the knot that freezes it. They would then slip down the tunnel and join me. Under their influence, I became less dangerous. My body was still wolfish, but my mind seemed to become less so while I was with them. Although Amara and Sirius used their Animagi forms to their advantage in our sixth year when they started dating” Remus said the last part like he was telling the trio some sort of top notch gossip. <br/> “Hurry up, Remus,” Sirius was saying, rolling his eyes. Amara smiling and mocking exasperation. <br/> “I’m getting there, Sirius, I’m getting there… Well, highly exciting possibilities were open to us now that we could all transform. Soon we were leaving the Shrieking Shack and roaming the school grounds and the village by night. Sirius James, and Amara all transformed into such large animals, they were able to keep a werewolf in check. I doubt whether any Hogwarts students ever found out more about the Hogwarts grounds and Hogsmeade than we did… And that’s how we came to write the Marauder’s Map, and sign it with our nicknames. Sirius is Padfoot. Amara is Longmane. Peter is Wormtail. James was Prongs.” Amara was still smiling, looking over at Sirius remembering the fond memories they all shared.  <br/>“What sort of animal —?” Harry began, but Hermione cut him off. “That was still really dangerous! Running around in the dark with a werewolf! What if you’d given the others the slip, and bitten somebody?”<br/>“A thought that still haunts me,” said Moony heavily. “And there were near misses, many of them. We laughed about them afterwards. We were young, thoughtless— carried away with our own cleverness.” Amara thought about all those near misses. She still thinks about them sometimes. She sometimes thinks maybe she should have been the voice of reason in their little group, but she was also so carried away in the thrill of it all, she didn’t want to stop them. She thought to the five of them laughing about the trouble they had gotten up to after every night of wandering the castle. <br/> “I sometimes felt guilty about betraying Dumbledore’s trust, of course… he had admitted me to Hogwarts when no other headmaster would have done so, and he had no idea I was breaking the rules he had set down for my own and others’ safety. He never knew I had led four fellow students into becoming Animagi illegally. But I always managed to forget my guilty feelings every time we sat down to plan our next month’s adventure. And I haven’t changed…” Remus’ face had hardened, and there was self-disgust in his voice. “All this year, I have been battling with myself, wondering whether I should tell Dumbledore that Sirius was an Animagus. But I didn’t do it. Why? Because I was too cowardly. It would have meant admitting that I’d betrayed his trust while I was at school, admitting that I’d led others along with me… and Dumbledore’s trust has meant everything to me. He let me into Hogwarts as a boy, and he gave me a job when I have been shunned all my adult life, unable to find paid work because of what I am. And so I convinced myself that Sirius was getting into the school using dark arts he learned from Voldemort, that being an Animagus had nothing to do with it…” Amara also sighed at that, also feeling guilty. <br/>“Don’t beat yourself up about it Remus. If anything… I’m the one who should be more guilty.. I also debated telling him, but I was also afraid of what he would think of me. I didn’t want to explain to him how I had betrayed his trust… He actually asked me you know. He asked me whether I knew how Sirius was possibly able to escape Azkaban. Looking back on it, I think I made the right choice, but maybe not if I think about Peter.” I sighed.  <br/>“Don’t be so harsh on yourself Amara… Anyway.. In a way.. Snape’s been right about me all along.”<br/> “Snape?” said Sirius harshly, looking up at Remus. “What’s Snape got to do with it?”<br/> “He’s here, Sirius,” said Lupin heavily. “He’s teaching here as well.” At this Sirius looked at me questioningly and I just nodded. Confirming that yes, Snape was in fact a professor now. Remus looked up at Harry, Ron, and Hermione. <br/> “Professor Snape was at school with us. He fought very hard against my appointment to the Defense Against the Dark Arts job. He has been telling Dumbledore all year that I am not to be trusted. He has his reasons… you see, Sirius here played a trick on him which nearly killed him, a trick which involved me —”<br/> Black made a derisive noise. “It served him right,” he sneered. “Sneaking around, trying to find out what we were up to… hoping he could get us expelled…” <br/>“You have to admit Sirius, that prank was a little harsh.” Amara said. <br/>“Severus was very interested in where I went every month.” Lupin told Harry, Ron, and Hermione. “We were in the same year, you know, and we — er — didn’t like each other very much. He especially disliked James. Jealous, I think, of James’s talent on the Quidditch field…” Amara sort of snorted at that. Even a blind man could tell that Snape was jealous of James because of Lily. Amara was certain it was that, however she never said anything. Both James and Lily were gone now so why dwell on those crushes of the past? “Anyway Snape had seen me crossing the grounds with Madam Pomfrey one evening as she led me toward the Whomping Willow to transform. Sirius thought it would be — er — amusing, to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the knot on the tree trunk with a long stick, and he’d be able to get in after me. Well, of course, Snape tried it — if he’d got as far as this house, he’d have met a fully grown werewolf — but your father, who’d heard what Sirius had done, went after Snape and pulled him back, at great risk to his life… Snape glimpsed me, though, at the end of the tunnel. He was forbidden by Dumbledore to tell anybody, but from that time on he knew what I was…”<br/>“See… you have to think that it was a little too harsh Sirius.” Amara looked over at him. Sirius just pursed his lips and didn’t meet her gaze. <br/> “So that’s why Snape doesn’t like you,” said Harry slowly, “because he thought you were in on the joke?”<br/> “That’s right,” sneered a cold voice from the wall behind Lupin.</p>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Explain yoselves</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>They explain. Most of this is also taken from the book. SOrry.</p>
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    <p>Severus Snape was pulling off the Invisibility Cloak, his wand pointing directly at Remus.  <br/>Hermione screamed. Sirius leapt to his feet. Amara also quickly grabbed her wand from the ground next to her. <br/> “I found this at the base of the Whomping Willow,” said Snape, throwing the cloak aside, careful to keep this wand pointing directly at Remus’ chest. “Very useful, Potter, I thank you…” Snape was slightly breathless, but his face was full of suppressed triumph. “You’re wondering, perhaps, how I knew you were here?” he said, his eyes glittering. “I’ve just been to your office, Lupin. You forgot to take your potion tonight, so I took a gobletful along. And very lucky I did… lucky for me, I mean. Lying on your desk was a certain map. One glance at it told me all I needed to know. I saw you running along this passageway and out of sight.”<br/>“Severus —” Remus began, but Snape overrode him.<br/>“I’ve told the headmaster again and again that you’re helping your old friend Black into the castle, Lupin, and Amara! I’ve been telling the headmaster that you’re helping your old flame. Everyone knows you two were inseparable. And here’s the proof! Not even I dreamed you would have the nerve to use this old place as your hideout —”<br/> “Severus, you’re making a mistake,” said Remus urgently. “You haven’t heard everything — I can explain — Sirius is not here to kill Harry —”<br/> “Three more for Azkaban tonight,” said Snape, his eyes now gleaming fanatically. “I shall be interested to see how Dumbledore takes this… He was quite convinced you were harmless, you know, Lupin… a tame werewolf. He thought you were just a fragile little piece of broken glass, Amara—” That really offended Amara. Sure she did break into pieces when she heard the news, but she wasn’t as useless as pieces of broken glass. She raised Harry. She taught at Hogwarts. She held herself up. <br/>“You fool,” said Remus softly. “Is a schoolboy grudge worth putting an innocent man back inside Azkaban?”<br/> BANG! Thin, snakelike cords burst from the end of Snape’s wand and twisted themselves around Lupin’s mouth, wrists, and ankles; he overbalanced and fell to the floor, unable to move. Amara moved to block the curse and was successful. However with a quick Expelliarmus, Snape had unarmed her. Sirius started toward Snape, but Snape pointed his wand straight between his eyes.<br/> “Give me a reason,” he whispered. “Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will.”<br/> Sirius stopped dead. It would have been impossible to say which face showed more hatred.<br/>Hermione, took a step toward Snape and said, in a very breathless voice, “Professor Snape — it wouldn’t hurt to hear what they’ve got to say, w-would it?” <br/>“Miss Granger, you are already facing suspension from this school,” Snape spat. “You, Potter, and Weasley are out-of-bounds, in the company of a convicted murderer and a werewolf. For once in your life, hold your tongue.”<br/>“But if — if there was a mistake —”<br/>“KEEP QUIET, YOU STUPID GIRL!” Snape shouted, looking suddenly quite deranged. “DON’T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!” A few sparks shot out of the end of his wand, which was still pointed at Sirius’ face. Hermione fell silent. “Vengeance is very sweet,” Snape breathed at Sirius. “How I hoped I would be the one to catch you…”<br/>“The joke’s on you again, Severus,” Sirius snarled. “As long as this boy brings his rat up to the castle” — he jerked his head at Ron — “I’ll come quietly…”<br/> “Up to the castle?” said Snape silkily. “I don’t think we need to go that far. All I have to do is call the Dementors once we get out of the Willow. They’ll be very pleased to see you, Black… pleased enough to give you a little kiss, I daresay… I —” <br/>“Please Severus— hear us out!” Amara shouted, only to be hit with a silencing charm. <br/> What little color there was in Sirius’ face left it. “You — you’ve got to hear me out,” he croaked. “The rat — look at the rat —”<br/> But there was a mad glint in Snape’s eyes that Amara almost recognized from their days as students. He was beyond reason.<br/> “Come on, all of you,” he said. He clicked his fingers, and the ends of the cords that bound Lupin flew to his hands. “I’ll drag the werewolf. Perhaps the Dementors will have a kiss for him too —” With that Amara’s silencing charm was also broken. <br/>Before he knew what he was doing, Harry had crossed the room in three strides and blocked the door.<br/>“Get out of the way, Potter, you’re in enough trouble already,” snarled Snape. “If I hadn’t been here to save your skin —”<br/>“Professor Lupin could have killed me about a hundred times this year,” Harry said. “I’ve been alone with him loads of times, having defense lessons against the Dementors. If he was helping Black, why didn’t he just finish me off then? Also Amara… She has taken me in ever since I was a baby. Why would she have been in league with the man who killed them all this time. She also had so many opportunities to kill me if she wanted to. Why didn’t she?” <br/>“Don’t ask me to fathom the way these people’s minds work,” hissed Snape. “Get out of the way, Potter.”<br/> “YOU’RE PATHETIC!” Harry yelled. “JUST BECAUSE THEY MADE A FOOL OF YOU AT SCHOOL YOU WON’T EVEN LISTEN —”<br/>“SILENCE! I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!” Snape shrieked, looking madder than ever. “Like father, like son, Potter! I have just saved your neck; you should be thanking me on bended knee! You would have been well served if he’d killed you! You’d have died like your father, too arrogant to believe you might be mistaken in Black— now get out of the way, or I will make you. GET OUT OF THE WAY, POTTER!” That was it. Amara had had enough. She stepped in front of Harry and she punched Snape square in his stupid nose. <br/>After a few seconds of silence. Amara said, “Don’t… you DARE. Talk about James like that! He… He had his flaws, but we must NOT speak ill of the DEAD Severus! I know we were not nice to you… but that’s really not a reason to say such things like that to a boy who hasn’t done anything wrong! Reminding him of what he can’t have.. Shame on you!” <br/>“You don’t know the half of it Amara!” Snape yelled back. <br/>Just then, “Expelliarmus!” Harry yelled — along with Hermione and Ron. There was a blast that made the door rattle on its hinges; Snape was lifted off his feet and slammed into the wall, then slid down it to the floor, a trickle of blood oozing from under his hair. He had been knocked out. <br/>“You shouldn’t have done that,” said Sirius, looking at Harry. “You should have left him to me…” <br/>“Harry….” Amara was about to scold him but just smiled, “Good job.” <br/>“We attacked a teacher… We attacked a teacher…” Hermione whimpered, staring at the lifeless Snape with frightened eyes. “Oh, we’re going to be in so much trouble —” Amara just smiled again at her panic. <br/> Remus was struggling against his bonds. Sirius bent down quickly and untied him. Remus straightened up, rubbing his arms where the ropes had cut into them.<br/> “Thank you, Harry,” he said.<br/> “I’m still not saying I believe you,” Harry told Remus.<br/> “Then it’s time we offered you some proof,” said Remus. “You, boy — give me Peter, please. Now.”<br/>“Come off it,” he said weakly. “Are you trying to say he broke out of Azkaban just to get his hands on Scabbers? I mean…” He looked up at Harry and Hermione for support, “Okay, say Pettigrew could turn into a rat — there are millions of rats — how’s he supposed to know which one he is after if he was locked up in Azkaban?”<br/>“You know, Sirius, that’s a fair question,” said Remus, turning to Sirius and frowning slightly. Amara also contemplated this, and looked over at Sirius. “How did you find out where he was?”<br/>Sirius put his hand in his pocket and took out a crumpled piece of paper, which he smoothed flat and held out to show the others.<br/>It was the photograph of Ron and his family that had appeared in the Daily Prophet the previous summer, and there, on Ron’s shoulder, was Scabbers.<br/>“How did you get this?” Remus asked Sirius, thunderstruck.<br/>“Fudge,” said Sirius. “When he came to inspect Azkaban last year, he gave me his paper. And there was Peter, on the front page on this boy’s shoulder… I knew him at once… how many times had I seen him transform? And the caption said the boy would be going back to Hogwarts… to where Harry was…” Amara was too shocked to speak. She had seen Peter transform just as many times, but hadn’t paid much attention to the Wasley’s family rat to actually realize. <br/>“My God,” said Remus softly, staring from Peter to the picture in the paper and back again. “His front paw…”<br/>“What about it?” said Ron defiantly. Ron clutched Scabbers closer to his chest. <br/>“He’s got a toe missing,” said Sirius.<br/>“Of course,” Remus breathed. “So simple… so brilliant… he cut it off himself?”<br/>“Just before he transformed,” said Sirius. “When I cornered him, he yelled for the whole street to hear that I’d betrayed Lily and James. Then, before I could curse him, he blew apart the street with the wand behind his back, killed everyone within twenty feet of himself — and sped down into the sewer with the other rats…” <br/>“My god… I can’t believe this..” Amara whispered. <br/>“Didn’t you ever hear, Ron?” said Remus. “The biggest bit of Peter they found was his finger.”<br/>“Look, Scabbers probably had a fight with another rat or something! He’s been in my family for ages, right —”<br/>“Twelve years…” Amara whispered. Also realizing for the first time... How could she have been so blind?<br/>“Right. Did you ever wonder why a common rat was living for so long?” Remus finished for Amara. <br/>“We — we’ve been taking good care of him!” said Ron.<br/>“Not looking too good at the moment, though, is he?” said Remus. “I’d guess he’s been losing weight ever since he heard Sirius was on the loose again…”<br/> “He’s been scared of that mad cat!” said Ron, nodding toward Crookshanks, who was still purring on the bed. <br/>“This cat isn’t mad,” said Sirius hoarsely. He reached out a bony hand and stroked Crookshanks’s fluffy head. “He’s the most intelligent of his kind I’ve ever met. He recognized Peter for what he was right away. And when he met me, he knew I was no dog. It was a while before he trusted me… Finally, I managed to communicate to him what I was after, and he’s been helping me…”<br/>“What do you mean?” breathed Hermione.<br/>“He tried to bring Peter to me, but couldn’t… so he stole the passwords into Gryffindor Tower for me… As I understand it, he took them from a boy’s bedside table… But Peter got wind of what was going on and ran for it.” Sirius croaked. “This cat — Crookshanks, did you call him? — told me Peter had left blood on the sheets… I supposed he bit himself… Well, faking his own death had worked once.”<br/> These words jolted Harry to his senses.<br/> “And why did he fake his death?” he said furiously. “Because he knew you were about to kill him like you killed my parents!”<br/>“No,” said Remus, “Harry—”<br/>“And now you’ve come to finish him off!”<br/>“Harry.. Listen to us! Don’t just jump to conclusions.” Amara scolded like she was talking to a five year old Harry. <br/>“Yes, I have,” said Sirius, with an anger filled look at Peter.<br/>“Then I should’ve let Snape take you!” Harry shouted. <br/>“HArry!” Amara shouted once again. <br/>“How are you taking his side right now?!” <br/>“Because he wasn’t the one who killed your parents!” Amara shouted. <br/>“Harry,” said Remus hurriedly, “don’t you see? All this time we’ve thought Sirius betrayed your parents, and Peter tracked him down — but it was the other way around, don’t you see? Peter betrayed your mother and father — Sirius tracked Peter down —”<br/> “THAT’S NOT TRUE!” Harry yelled. “HE WAS THEIR SECRET-KEEPER! HE SAID SO BEFORE YOU TURNED UP. HE SAID HE KILLED THEM!” At that Amara turned around to face Sirius. She didn’t think he did kill them, of course, but she didn’t understand why he would say that he killed them to Harry. <br/>Sirius was shaking his head slowly; the sunken eyes were suddenly overly bright. “Harry… I as good as killed them,” he croaked. “I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment, persuaded them to use him as Secret-Keeper instead of me… I’m to blame, I know it… The night they died, I’d arranged to check on Peter, make sure he was still safe, but when I arrived at his hiding place, he’d gone. Yet there was no sign of a struggle. It didn’t feel right. I was scared. I set out for your parents’ house straight away. And when I saw their house, destroyed, and their bodies… I realized what Peter must’ve done… what I’d done…” His voice broke. He turned away. <br/>At this, Amara also broke once more. She hugged Sirius tightly and whispered, “No. You should NOT blame yourself for this. You can’t carry guilt for something you didn’t even know would happen.” <br/> “Enough of this,” said Remus, and there was a steely note in his voice Harry had never heard before. “There’s one certain way to prove what really happened. Ron, give me that rat.”<br/> “What are you going to do with him if I give him to you?” Ron asked Lupin tensely.<br/> “Force him to show himself,” said Lupin. “If he really is a rat, it won’t hurt him.” Ron hesitated. Then at long last, he held out Scabbers and Lupin took him. Scabbers began to squeak without stopping, twisting and turning, his tiny black eyes bulging in his head. “Ready?” said Remus, looking at both Sirius and Amara.<br/> Sirius had already retrieved Snape’s wand from the bed. Amara also got her wand back. They approached Remus and the struggling rat, and his wet eyes suddenly seemed to be burning in his face.<br/>“Together?” Sirius said quietly.<br/>“I think so”, said Remus, holding Scabbers tightly in one hand and his wand in the other. “On the count of three. One — two — THREE!”<br/>A flash of blue-white light erupted from all three wands; for a moment, Scabbers was frozen in midair, his small gray form twisting madly — Ron yelled — the rat fell and hit the floor. There was another blinding flash of light and then — Peter was standing where the rat used to be. <br/>“Well, hello, Peter,” said Lupin pleasantly, as though rats frequently erupted into old school friends around him. “Long time, no see.”<br/> “S—Sirius… R—Remus… A—Amara...” Peter squeaked Again, his eyes darted toward the door. “My friends… my old friends…”</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Where shit starts getting real</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>I dont know. A lot of this was taken from the book too.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sirius’ wand arm rose, but Remus seized him around the wrist, gave him a warning look, then turned again to Pettigrew, his voice light and casual.<br/>“We’ve been having a little chat, Peter, about what happened the night Lily and James died. You might have missed the finer points while you were squeaking around down there on the bed —”<br/>“Remus,” gasped Peter, and Harry could see beads of sweat breaking out over his pasty face, “you don’t believe him, do you…? He tried to kill me, Remus… Amara… You shouldn’t trust him”<br/>“So we’ve heard,” said Remus, more coldly. “I’d like to clear up one or two little matters with you, Peter, if you’ll be so —”<br/>“He’s come to try and kill me again!” Peter squeaked suddenly, pointing at Sirius, and he used his middle finger, because his index was missing. “He killed Lily and James and now he’s going to kill me too… You’ve got to help me!” <br/>“No one’s going to try and kill you until we’ve sorted a few things out,” said Remus.<br/>“Sorted things out?” squealed Peter, looking wildly about him once more, eyes taking in the boarded windows and, again, the only door. “I knew he’d come after me! I knew he’d be back for me! I’ve been waiting for this for twelve years!”<br/>“You knew Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban?” said Amara, his brow furrowed. “When nobody has ever done it before?”<br/>“He’s got dark powers the rest of us can only dream of!” Peter shouted shrilly. “How else did he get out of there? I suppose He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named taught him a few tricks!” <br/>Sirius started to laugh, a mirthless laugh that filled the whole room. “Voldemort, teach me tricks?” he said. Peter flinched as though Sirius had brandished a whip at him.<br/>“What, scared to hear your old master’s name?” said Sirius. “I don’t blame you, Peter. His lot aren’t very happy with you, are they?”<br/>“Don’t know what you mean, Sirius —” muttered Peter, his breathing faster than ever. His whole face was shining with sweat now.<br/> “You haven’t been hiding from me for twelve years,” said Sirius. “You’ve been hiding from Voldemort’s old supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter… They all think you’re dead, or you’d have to answer to them… I’ve heard them screaming all sorts of things in their sleep. Sounds like they think the double-crosser double-crossed them. Voldemort went to the Potters’ on your information… and Voldemort met his downfall there. And not all Voldemort’s supporters ended up in Azkaban, did they? There are still plenty out here, biding their time, pretending they’ve seen the error of their ways. If they ever got wind that you were still alive, Peter —”<br/>“Don’t know… what you’re talking about…” said Peter again. “You don’t believe this — this madness, Remus— Amara!”<br/>“I must admit, Peter, I have difficulty in understanding why an innocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat,” said Amara evenly.<br/>“Innocent, but scared!” squealed Peter. “If Voldemort’s supporters were after me, it was because I put one of their best men in Azkaban — the spy, Sirius Black!” Sirius’ face contorted.<br/>“How dare you,” he growled, sounding suddenly like the bear sized dog he was. “I, a spy for Voldemort? When did I ever sneak around people who were stronger and more powerful than myself? But you, Peter — I’ll never understand why I didn’t see you were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who’d look after you, didn’t you? It used to be us… me, Amara and Remus… and James…” Peter wiped his face again; he was almost panting for breath.<br/>“Me, a spy… must be out of your mind… never…don't know how you can say such a— Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it.” Sirius hissed so venomously that Pettigrew took a step backward. “I thought it was the perfect plan… a bluff… Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would never dream they’d use a weak, talentless thing like you… It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters.” Peter was muttering distractedly. <br/>“Professor Lupin?” said Hermione timidly. “Can — can I say something?”<br/>“Certainly, Hermione,” said Remus courteously.<br/>“Well — Scabbers — I mean, this — this man — he’s been sleeping in Harry’s dormitory for three years. If he’s working for You-Know-Who, how come he never tried to hurt Harry before now?”<br/> “There!” said Peter shrilly, pointing at Ron with his maimed hand. “Thank you! You see, Remus? I have never hurt a hair of Harry’s head! Why should I?”<br/>“I’ll tell you why,” said Sirius. “Because you never did anything for anyone unless you could see what was in it for you. Voldemort’s been in hiding for fifteen years, they say he’s half dead. You weren’t about to commit murder right under Albus Dumbledore’s nose, for a wreck of a wizard who’d lost all of his power, were you? You’d want to be quite sure he was the biggest bully in the playground before you went back to him, wouldn’t you? Why else did you find a wizard family to take you in? Keeping an ear out for news, weren’t you, Peter? Just in case your old protector regained strength, and it was safe to rejoin him…”<br/> Peter opened his mouth and closed it several times. He seemed to have lost the ability to talk.<br/> “Er — Mr. Black — Sirius?” said Hermione. Sirius jumped at being addressed like this and stared at Hermione as though he had never seen anything quite like her. “If you don’t mind me asking, how — how did you get out of Azkaban, if you didn’t use Dark Magic?”<br/> “Thank you!” gasped Peter, nodding frantically at her. “Exactly! Precisely what I—” But both Lupin and Amara silenced him with a look. Sirius was frowning slightly at Hermione, but not as though he were annoyed with her. He seemed to be pondering his answer.<br/>“I don’t know how I did it,” he said slowly. “I think the only reason I never lost my mind is that I knew I was innocent. That wasn’t a happy thought, so the Dementors couldn’t suck it out of me… I also focused on Amara, just the fact she would be out there thinking I had betrayed her trust… That wasn’t much of a happy thought either…” Amara just looked at him with a sort of sad smile, “but it kept me sane and knowing who I am… helped me keep my powers… so when it all became… too much… I could transform in my cell… become a dog. Dementors can’t see, you know…” He swallowed. “They feel their way toward people by feeding off their emotions… They could tell that my feelings were less — less human, less complex when I was a dog… but they thought, of course, that I was losing my mind like everyone else in there, so it didn’t trouble them. But I was weak, very weak, and I had no hope of driving them away from me without a wand… But then I saw Peter in that picture… I realized he was at Hogwarts with Harry… perfectly positioned to act, if one hint reached his ears that the Dark Side was gathering strength again…” Peter was shaking his head, mouthing noiselessly, but staring all the while at Sirius as though hypnotized. “… ready to strike at the moment he could be sure of allies… and to deliver the last Potter to them. If he gave them Harry, who’d dare say he’d betrayed Lord Voldemort? He’d be welcome back with honors…  So you see, I had to do something. I was the only one who knew Peter was still alive…”<br/> Amara remembered what Molly had told her. ‘The guards say he’s been talking in his sleep… always the same words… ‘He’s at Hogwarts.’’<br/> “It was as if someone had lit a fire in my head, and the Dementors couldn’t destroy it… It wasn’t a happy feeling… it was an obsession… but it gave me strength, it cleared my mind. So, one night when they opened my door to bring food, I slipped past them as a dog… It’s so much harder for them to sense animal emotions that they were confused… I was thin, very thin… thin enough to slip through the bars… I swam as a dog back to the mainland… I journeyed north and slipped into the Hogwarts grounds as a dog. I’ve been living in the forest ever since, except when I came to watch the Quidditch match, of course. You fly as well as your father did, Harry…” He looked at Harry, who did not look away. “Believe me,” croaked Sirius. “Believe me, Harry. I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them.” <br/>At this Harry just nodded.<br/>“No!” Peter had fallen to his knees as though Harry’s nod had been his own death sentence. He shuffled forward on his knees, groveling, his hands clasped in front of him as though praying.<br/>“Sirius — it’s me… it’s Peter… your friend… you wouldn’t —”<br/>Sirius kicked out and Peter recoiled.<br/>“There’s enough filth on my robes without you touching them,” said Sirius.<br/>“Remus!” Peter squeaked, turning to Rmeus instead, writhing imploringly in front of him. “You don’t believe this — wouldn’t Sirius have told you they’d changed the plan?”<br/>“Not if he thought I was the spy, Peter,” said Lupin. “I assume that’s why you didn’t tell me, Sirius?” he said casually over Pettigrew’s head. <br/>“Forgive me, Remus,” said Sirius.<br/>“Not at all, Padfoot, old friend,” said Lupin, who was now rolling up his sleeves. “And will you, in turn, forgive me for believing you were the spy?” <br/>“Of course,” said Sirius. <br/>“Amara! He would have told you! Right? You two were practically married! You would have been the first to know of his plans. You can’t believe him!” Peter begged at her feet. <br/>Kicking him in the face, Amara replied coolly, “He didn’t have enough time. I didn’t know where he was because Dumbledore had told us to keep away, in case I became a hostage, that way even if they tortured me, I couldn’t tell them where Sirius was because I didn’t know. Sirius, I really do hope you can forgive me for also thinking you were the traitor.” <br/>“My love, I could never be mad at you. I just hope you can forgive me for making you suffer so many years thinking that I betrayed you” <br/>“Of course love.” The ghost of a grin flitted across his gaunt face. He began rolling up his sleeves. “Shall we kill him together?”<br/>“Yes, I think so,” said Remus grimly. <br/>“Let's do it.” Amara said, matching Monny’s tone. <br/>“You wouldn’t… you won’t…” gasped Peter. And he scrambled around to Ron.<br/>“Ron… haven’t I been a good friend… a good pet? You won’t let them kill me, Ron, will you… you’re on my side, aren’t you?” But Ron was staring at Peter with the utmost revulsion.<br/>“I let you sleep in my bed!” he said.<br/>“Kind boy… kind master…” Peter crawled toward Ron “You won’t let them do it… I was your rat… I was a good pet…”<br/>“If you made a better rat than a human, it’s not much to boast about, Peter,” said Sirus harshly. Ron, going still paler with pain, wrenched his broken leg out of Peter’s reach. Peter turned on his knees, staggered forward, and seized the hem of Hermione’s robes. “Sweet girl… clever girl… you — you won’t let them… Help me…” Hermione pulled her robes out of Pettigrew’s clutching hands and backed away against the wall, looking horrified. Pettigrew knelt, trembling uncontrollably, and turned his head slowly toward Harry. “Harry… Harry… you look just like your father… just like him…”<br/>“HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO HARRY?” roared Sirius “HOW DARE YOU FACE HIM? HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT JAMES IN FRONT OF HIM?”<br/>“Harry,” whispered Peter, shuffling toward the boy, hands outstretched. “Harry, James wouldn’t have wanted me killed… James would have understood, Harry… he would have shown me mercy…” Both Remus and Sirius strode forward and seized Peter’s shoulders, and threw him backward onto the floor. He sat there, twitching with terror, staring up at them. Amara was seething with rage. How could he even think about trying to beg for mercy to Harry, who was the son of the people he had killed. <br/>“You sold Lily and James to Voldemort,” said Sirius, who was shaking too. “Do you deny it?” Peter burst into tears. It was horrible to watch, like an oversized, balding baby, cowering on the floor.<br/> “Sirius, Sirius, what could I have done? The Dark Lord… you have no idea… he has weapons you can’t imagine… I was scared, Sirius, I was never brave like you and Remus and Amara and James. I never meant it to happen… He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named forced me —”<br/> “DON’T LIE!” bellowed Sirius. “YOU’D BEEN PASSING INFORMATION TO HIM FOR A YEAR BEFORE LILY AND JAMES DIED! YOU WERE HIS SPY!”<br/> “He — he was taking over everywhere!” gasped Peter. “Wh-what was there to be gained by refusing him?” <br/>“What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who has ever existed?” said Sirius, with a terrible fury in his face. “Only innocent lives, Peter!”<br/>“You don’t understand!” whined Peter. “He would have killed me, Sirius!”<br/>“THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!” roared Sirius. “DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!”<br/> Amara, Remus and Sirius stood shoulder to shoulder, wands raised. <br/>“You filthy traitor! How could you! We all trusted you! Lily and James trusted you with their LIVES! You caused so much pain and suffering! It was all you Peter! You!” Amara shouted. <br/>“You should have realized,” said Remus quietly, “if Voldemort didn’t kill you, we would. Goodbye, Peter.”<br/>“NO!” Harry yelled. He ran in front of Peter, facing their wands. “You can’t kill him,” he said breathlessly. “You can’t.”<br/>The adults all looked staggered.<br/>“Harry, this piece of vermin is the reason you have no parents,” Sirius snarled. “This cringing bit of filth would have seen you die too, without turning a hair. You heard him. His own stinking skin meant more to him than your whole family.”<br/>“I know,” Harry panted. “We’ll take him up to the castle. We’ll hand him over to the Dementors… He can go to Azkaban… but don’t kill him.”<br/>“Harry!” gasped Peter, and he flung his arms around Harry’s knees. “You — thank you — it’s more than I deserve — thank you —”<br/>“Get off me,” Harry spat, throwing Pettigrew’s hands off him in disgust. “I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing it because — I don’t reckon my dad would’ve wanted his friends to become killers — just for you.”<br/>No one moved or made a sound except Pettigrew, whose breath was coming in wheezes as he clutched his chest. Black and Lupin were looking at each other. Then, with one movement, they lowered their wands.<br/> “You’re the only person who has the right to decide, Harry,” said Amara. “But think… think what he did…”<br/> “He can go to Azkaban,” Harry repeated. “If anyone deserves that place, he does…” <br/>“Very well,” said Remus. “Stand aside, Harry.” Harry hesitated.<br/>“I’m going to tie him up,” said Remus. “That’s all, I swear.” <br/>“Wait. I don’t want him going anywhere until he’s in front of the headmaster. This won't hurt him. I promise.” Amara said. Harry stepped out of the way. “Petrificus Totalus”  Peter was now stiff as a board and laying on the ground. “Wingardium Leviosa” Peter’s body floated up and Amara was now in control. <br/>“Right,” said Remus, suddenly businesslike. “Ron, I can’t mend bones nearly as well as Madam Pomfrey, so I think it’s best if we just strap your leg up until we can get you to the hospital wing.”<br/> He hurried over to Ron, bent down, tapped Ron’s leg with his wand, and muttered, “Ferula.” Bandages spun up Ron’s leg, strapping it tightly to a splint. Remus helped him to his feet; Ron put his weight gingerly on the leg and didn’t wince. <br/>“That’s better,” he said. “Thanks.”<br/>“What about Professor Snape?” said Hermione in a small voice, looking down at Snape’s prone figure.<br/>“There’s nothing seriously wrong with him,” said Remus, bending over Snape and checking his pulse. “You were just a little — overenthusiastic. Still out cold. Er — perhaps it will be best if we don’t revive him until we’re safely back in the castle. We can take him like this…” He muttered, “Mobilicorpus.” As though invisible strings were tied to Snape’s wrists, neck, and nees, he was pulled into a standing position, head still lolling unpleasantly, like a grotesque puppet. He hung a few inches above the ground, his limp feet dangling. Remus picked up the Invisibility Cloak and tucked it safely into his pocket.<br/> As they were all leaving the Shrieking Shack, Amara heard Sirius tell Harry about how he was his Godfather. <br/>“Yeah I knew that.” Harry was saying. At that Amara turned around surprised. <br/>“How? Who told you?” <br/>“I overheard you and the professors talking with the Minister.” Harry confessed. <br/>“Oh my god! Harry! You were out when I told you that you couldn’t go?” Amara scolded. <br/>“Oh. Give the kid a break, love.” Sirius said with a playful smile on his face. <br/>“Well.. I suppose it was my fault for giving you the cloak.” she shrugged. <br/>“Amara…. I was going to ask you… now that I’ll be a free man.. And I am also Harry’s legal guardian… I was wondering whether you two would want to move in with me? I mean it would be totally understandable if you said you didn't want to—” Sirius never got to finish that sentence because Amara had taken a hold of his face and kissed him. It wasn’t a proper kiss, but it was enough to shut him up from his rambling. It was the first time she had kissed him in 12 years. It wasn’t nearly as long as she wanted it to be, but Harry was there so she didn’t want to traumatize him. <br/>“I wouldn’t mind one bit. Harry? Is it okay with you?” Amara asked. <br/>“Are you kidding? Of course!” Harry said. <br/>“You want to?” he said. “You mean it?”<br/>“Yeah, I mean it!” said Harry. Sirius’ gaunt face broke into the first true smile Amara had seen in 12 years. For the first time since the first time she had seen him a few hours ago, he seemed like the man she knew all those years ago. Beaming at both Harry and herself. She felt true happiness, something she hadn’t felt in many years. <br/>They had now reached the end of the tunnel. Now everyone was out and Amara was still concentrating on keeping Peter afloat with the body binding curse still intact. Of course it wasn’t hard for her, these spells were very elementary. However, suddenly the clouds parted revealing a full moon. Knowing Remus hasn’t taken his potion tonight, Hermione shouted a warning. <br/>“Run!” Sirius shouted. In the panic, Amara lost control of her spells. In that split second, Peter was free of her spells. He knocked Ron who was trying to subdue him, and was transforming into a rat. Remus had now transformed and Sirius had also transformed into a Dog and was busy with Lupin. In that second Amara made a decision. She felt herself transform. Her body felt the familiar feeling of becoming a whole different figure. Soon she was standing on her 4 long legs, in her form of a White Mare.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Tantrum Time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ok now this is actually where I start writing my own things. It's hella short.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She sprang into action and went after Peter. She soon spotted him, but as a little rat he was not as fast as a horse. She soon caught up with him and stomped on his tail, not even caring if she hurt him. She didn’t even care if she killed him. She felt his tail under her hoof and she bent her head down to grab him with her mouth. When she did, she went back to where the kids should have been. However she didn’t see either Harry or Hermione. She only saw an unconscious Ron. However, her mind being too simplified, as a horse, she just focused on getting Peter to the castle. <br/>When she was in the tower, she transformed back into a human and turned Peter back into a human as well. After that she just knocked him out cold by punching him in the face. She then used the Mobilicorpus charm to bring him to Dumbledore. <br/>She had marched up to his office with a new sort of anger and resentment building up inside her. <br/>She had finally reached his office and even without knocking she marched inside.<br/>“Sirius is an innocent man Professor! He never betrayed anyone! You told me to let it go! You told me he was guilty!” <br/>“Calm down Amara. What are you talking about?” <br/>With that Amara explained everything. <br/>“I’m sorry I did not know…” <br/>“I DID KNOW! I TOLD YOU! I TOLD YOU HE WAS INNOCENT! I TOLD YOU HE WOULD NEVER EVER BETRAY OUR FRIENDS! I KNEW!! BUT YOU SAID TO LET IT GO! He… he was in Azkaban for. Twelve. Fucking. Years. HE.. He rotted in that cell… and you did nothing…” The tears were falling and they weren’t stopping soon. Her heart started to ache once again. However, she breathed. She composed herself a little. Straightened up and simply said, “You’ll have to find a new Arithmancy professor because I quit. I’m sorry for yelling. I’ll teach until the end of the year, but next year I won’t be coming back.”<br/>“I’m sorry my dear.” Dumbledore simply said. Just then a young wizard came into the office. <br/>“Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Sirius Black were found by the dementors over by the lake. Harry is fine but Hermione and Sirius Black are both unconscious. Also Ron Weasley was found by the Whomping Willow unconscious.” They said. <br/>“Bring them to the hospital wing.” Dumbledore told the Wizard.<br/>“Professor, this is enough proof for Sirius’ innocence, right?” Amara asked. <br/>“Yes.. I think so my dear. Now we’ll talk about the situation for the illegal Animagi later. Come, I suspect you would want to know how Sirius is doing.” Dumbledore concluded with a twinkle in his eyes. <br/>“Yes Professor.” Amara said with a slight smile.</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Almost the end</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>People are confused. Also hella short.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Pettigrew was confined inside of a seperate room, imprisoned, awaiting trial. Amara arrived at the hospital wing with Dumbledore. Many of the other professors were there. Snape was awake and seemingly well. Sirius was laying on one of the beds. Madame Pomfrey was taking care of him, with a sort of angry look on her face. Harry was also awake sitting on a bed. He was explaining the story to the other professors. <br/>“Harry! Are you okay?” Amara ran towards him and hugged him. <br/>“Yes mum. I’m fine.” Harry said, hugging her back. <br/>“What the hell happened? Why didn’t you come back to the castle?”<br/>“I cast a full patronus mum! I did it! I drove away 100 dementors!” Harry said, as excited as a little kid on Christmas morning. <br/>“I’m proud of you, but don’t ever scare me like that again!” Amara scolded. Then her vision shifted to Sirius. She walked towards him. The professors were all holding their breaths. They were still in strong belief that Sirius Black had Harry on some sort of spell and that Sirius was a loyal servant of Voldemort. They were all shocked to their bones when Amara strode forward and hugged him so tightly, that Sirius had to tell her that she was hurting him. <br/>“Don’t scare me like that! I mean… I just got you back.. I can’t lose you again..” She started crying again. <br/>“Now… don’t cry love. I’m here now… It’s okay… You’re fine… Look at me…” He wiped a stray tear off her face, “come on love, don’t cry again. Show me that beautiful smile…” At that Amara slightly smiled. “There’s my girl.” He whispered.<br/>“Would someone care to explain this situation to me?” Professor McGonagall spoke up. <br/>This started our explanation and also led us to show everyone Peter Pettigrew in all his cowardice. After they had seen all the evidence and the testament from everyone who was there, the ministry took away Peter Pettigrew for a formal trial. However that also meant Sirius had to go back to a holding cell until Peter’s trial was done. Then he would also have a trial of his own. Thinking there would be no better way of doing things, everyone agreed to this plan. <br/>Now everyone was well and Remus was back. He and Amara were having another cup of tea in his office. <br/>“I’m planning on resigning. I don’t think my secret will stay like that for very long and soon, everyone will be calling for my termination. So I decided to be ahead of them and resign now.” Remus told Amara. <br/>“Actually… I’m also going to quit. I threw a fucking tamper tantrum in Dumbledore’s office before quitting. Ha.. I regret it a bit I suppose..”<br/>“Quitting?” <br/>“No the tantrum.”  <br/>“Believe it or not, I threw a hissy-fit before quitting as well..” <br/>“Why, Remus Lupin! I can’t believe it! You??” Amara laughs. <br/>“Yes me. Is it so hard to believe? I mean, one of my best friends was wrongly imprisoned for twelve years… How can I not throw a fit?” He questions. <br/>“You have a point there sir.” Amara says, sipping her tea. <br/>“What about Harry?” Lupin brings up a point that I had been thinking about day and night. <br/>“Well… He’ll be fourteen. He doesn’t even take my class. I would love to see him everyday and keep an eye on him, but… I think he can take care of himself.. I just hope… I’m right. He has friends looking after him and the Weasleys are also going to be there for him. I mean.. I’ll still write to him. So will Sirius, and Remus! You better write too!” Amara finished pointing a finger at Remus. <br/>“Yes.. yes.. I will keep in touch.” Remus promised.</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. End of the first book.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Year 3 has ended! However there is some bad news and some good news. What do you want to hear first? Well you get whatever I wrote in first.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Soon the end of the year was here and students were leaving. Harry and Amara stood on platform 9¾  and Amara watched as Harry said goodbye to Ron and Hermione and the rest of the Weasleys. Amara said her goodbyes as well and they side apparated to number 12 grimmauld place. Sirius and Amara had arranged for this before Sirius had to go await his trial. Their belongings were already in there. As soon as they were inside, Amara heard the screeching of Walburga Black. Which she just ignored. She got Harry settled into what would be his room first. Then went on to clean the rest of the house. She put a curtain in front of Walburga’s portrait. Then went on to removing the hideous snake figures in the house. There were so many that she kept finding one when she thought she had gotten rid of all of them. Kreacher was an impossible house elf. However Harry seemed to be good to him, such a kind hearted boy, and Kreatcher stopped bothering Amara. The house looked decent enough by nightfall. It was time for dinner, which she quickly cooked up. <br/>The days passed and the house looked cleaner each day. In early July, they had gotten word that Peter’s trial was coming up and she was invited as a witness. She partook in the trial while Harry was with the Weasleys. <br/>The jury had determined Peter to be guilty. Peter was taken away to Azkaban shortly afterward. However, that day she received some infuriating news. </p><p>Dear Amara Roswell,<br/>This evening, the now fugitive, Peter Pettigrew had escaped the confines of our guards. He escaped as his animagus form in a moment’s notice. He is now in hiding. We are doing the best we can to find him. We thought we should inform you of this great mishap. My apologies. <br/>Regards, <br/>Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement <br/>Rufus Scrimgeour</p><p>Amara was in a rage, but she knew she couldn’t do anything so she just angrily crumpled up the paper and broke the news to Harry. <br/>Sirius’ trial was coming up next. The trial went on for some time which worried Amara. She had been summoned as a witness once again. <br/>“The jury finds the defendant innocent of all crimes” When those words were spoken, Amara let out a breath she was holding and the strength in her legs gave way and she had to really make an effort to stand when the Judge was leaving. After the Judge was gone, she sat back down and let the tears of joy flow freely down her face. Sirius came towards her and held her softly. She hugged him back. She was holding onto him, afraid that this whole thing might have been a dream. When she looked up, he was still there smiling at her. That fucking smile would be the end of her.. She just knew it… She kissed him. This time with much more fire than the first time. Hell with the rest of the wizards around them. She didn’t care; she just needed to kiss him right then and there.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>HELLOOOOOOOOO!!! Thank you for reading this! Ok tell me what you thought. I've started on the second book which will focus mainly on the actual relationship of Amara and Sirius. It will be the summer between book 3 and 4 and also book 4. I will probably also write a book in year 5. I intend on writing happy endings sooooooooooooooooo yeah. Sirius will not die. Not in my fanfic. Okay thanks.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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